The present invention relates to underwater diving equipment, and more particularly, to garments worn by professional and sports divers for warmth and protection during scuba diving.
Underwater diving suits are cumbersome to put on (don) and take off (doff) because they must fit snugly over the diver""s body. People have widely varying heights and weights. While wet suits are made of fabric reinforced neoprene which is relatively stretchable, dry suits are typically sewn from a relatively non-stretchable tri-laminate material consisting of Nylon woven fabric sandwiching a synthetic rubber layer. Dry suits are usually a one-piece design because it is not practical to put on and reliably joint and seal separate trouser and torso portions. They typically include a diagonal opening which spans the front of the torso and is opened and closed by a heavy waterproof zipper. Dry suits have a neck seal which must be pulled up over the head and forced down over the head. Where the dry diver""s suit has integral gloves, the neck seal must be pulled over the head before the diver""s arms are extended into the sleeves and gloves.
Various diving suits have been developed to overcome the aforementioned problems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,795 of Richard W. Long and Robert T. Stinton discloses a widely commercialized design in which the torso portion of the suit is longer than the diver""s torso height. A diagonal zippered opening in the front of the torso extends from the left shoulder to the right hip to provide a large opening for ingress and egress of the diver""s legs and arms. After the diver has donned the suit, the zipper is closed and the extended torso portion is rolled over to adjust to the height of the diver. Either a crotch strap or suspenders are used to secure the suit in this shortened configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,090 of Johnson discloses a one-piece diving suit with a stretchable waist band connected to the upper and lower torso portions which allows the upper portion to move relative to the lower portion while the diver is entering the suit. Once again the suit uses a zippered opening which extends diagonally across the front of the torso.
In another prior art diving suit a zippered opening extends diagonally across the front of the upper torso portion of the suit. To allow longitudinal expansion required for easy diver access and slipping the neck seal over the diver""s head, a second zippered opening is used in a rear panel of the suit. This allows the diver to pull the neck of the suit over his or her head. The zippers in the forward and rearward sides of the upper torso portion are then closed after the suit is fully on the body of the diver. The rearward zipper is difficult for the diver wearing the suit to close, and generally must be zipped shut by a buddy.
It would be desirable to enlarge the zippered opening in a diver""s suit to allow easier ingress and egress. However, it is highly undesirable for the diagonal opening in diving suits of this type to extend below the waist. This is because the heavy zipper is very uncomfortable to the diver when the diver sits or bends over. Also, waterproof zippers can be damaged from kinking due to excessive bending under such circumstances.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a one-piece diver""s suit that is easier to don and doff
In accordance with the present invention, a diving suit has a suit body made of a waterproof material. The suit body has an upper torso portion configured for enclosing an upper torso of a diver. The upper torso portion includes a pair of sleeves for enclosing the diver""s arms and an opening for the diver""s neck. The suit body has a trousers portion for enclosing the diver""s legs. The upper torso portion further has an opening sealed by a zipper. An upper segment of the opening extends diagonally across a front panel of the upper torso portion from one shoulder area of the upper torso portion. A lower segment of the opening partially encircles a waist area of the upper torso portion. This increases the effective length of the opening and makes it easier for the diver to put on and take off the diving suit.